Padres teammates will miss Hundley

One of the Padres' longest-tenured players left an impression

FILE - In this April 12, 2014, file photo, San Diego Padres catcher Nick Hundley makes a throw to second before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in San Diego. The Baltimore Orioles addressed their lack of depth at catcher, acquiring Hundley from the Padres on Saturday, May 24, 2014, in a trade for left-handed reliever Troy Patton. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)
The Associated Press

FILE - In this April 12, 2014, file photo, San Diego Padres catcher Nick Hundley makes a throw to second before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in San Diego. The Baltimore Orioles addressed their lack of depth at catcher, acquiring Hundley from the Padres on Saturday, May 24, 2014, in a trade for left-handed reliever Troy Patton. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)

Nick Hundley was the Padres' player representative, a sign of the respect he commanded with the Padres and around the league. On Saturday, he was traded to the Orioles. Baltimore's a better fit for the veteran catcher.

But Hundley was also Will Venable's roommate in the summer of 2005, when both players arrived in Eugene, Ore., to play for the Short-Season Single-A Emeralds. He would become one of Venable's closest friends. Venable would become a groomsman in Hundley's wedding.

"The first impression Nick made on me, we were roommates," Venable recalled Saturday. "At that time, when everybody's young and just got their first checks, going out and having a drink was something everyone was into. And you could not get Nick to go out, because all he wanted to do was sit in the hotel room and do forearm exercises and sit-ups and push-ups, like, every night. He was just that committed. That was my earliest memory and impression of his character. And he's been that guy consistently for 10 years. A tireless worker and a guy that has his priorities exactly where they should be."

With Hundley's departure, Venable and Chase Headley are the lone Padres major leaguers left from the 2005 draft. Either player could step in as the Padres' player rep, but Hundley's presence will be hard to replace. Even given his diminished role this season, he never turned down an interview, never publicly showed discontent. He continued working, instead.

"He's always been good at finding what he needs to work on and working at it, working at it, working at it," Venable said. "This year, where he was in a situation where he didn't have the opportunity he wanted to play, I think for a lot of guys it would've been easy to maybe coast, but he went the other way and just did more work than I'd ever seen before. Whether it was in the weight room, whether it was the defensive stuff, catching, hitting. He went completely the other way and just honed his craft.

"He wasn't able to do it as much in games, but he made sure he was sharp and ready to go every day. It was just another layer of his character and what he aspired to achieve in this game. Him not playing didn't affect his quest for perfecting his craft, which, for a lot of guys, it does."

"Nick has such a great heart and was a great Padre," said Bud Black, until now the only manager Hundley has known. "He was truly on board from a team aspect. That was a tough one."

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